The beauty of photography is its ability to encapsulate an instant—and in 2014, Vanity Fair captured magnetic, glamorous, moments from Jennifer Lawrence, Angelina Jolie, Robert Downey Jr., Catherine Deneuve, Neil Patrick Harris, among so many others. We narrowed down the year’s most memorable and striking photographs.

I can’t think of a better place to get to know someone than a dark, buttered-popcorn–scented movie theater, avoiding each other’s gaze and conversation for hours on end. And if you’re like me (God bless you), you never go to the movies (or to your in-laws’) without a little bottle of something fun and at least 80 proof to keep your various lipsticks company. So cheers to Valentine’s Day with these adorable mini-bottles that will fit snugly in your bag as you head out to see Fifty Shades of Grey or Paddington or whatever else is coming to a theater near you.

This month, the Tim Hetherington Trust announced its shortlist of finalists for a new grant, the Visionary Award, which honors emerging and established artists, journalists, filmmakers, and performers working in visual media ranging from photography to video, interactive to installation to performance art. The grant—which will award £20,000 U.K. ($30,400), along with a mentorship, to a single visual storyteller or storytelling team—is also intended to celebrate the legacy of award-winning photojournalist and Oscar-nominated filmmaker Tim Hetherington, a longtime Vanity Fair contributing photographer. Hetherington, aged 40, was killed in 2011 while covering the conflict in Libya in an attack that also took the life of fellow photojournalist Chris Hondros, 41. The Visionary Award will be given to a single recipient next month. Herewith, six finalists, along with some of their images.

They made music together, took drugs together, formed bands together, slept together. But none of the legends of the Laurel Canyon scene that flowered in L.A. in the late 60s and early 70s—Joni Mitchell, David Crosby, Linda Ronstadt, and others—remember it quite the same way.

Reggie Love spent five years as a personal assistant to Senator and President Barack Obama, who was not only a boss, but a mentor. In celebration of his new book, Power Forward (Simon & Schuster), Love shared some special photos from his private collection, featuring scenes from the Oval Office to the basketball court.

It was supposed to be a subway-crushing, deliveryman-thwarting, city-stalling blizzard, but the flurries only coated New York City with light frosting, just enough for the perfect snowman and a day home from school. Photographer Daniel Arnold captured the city in its snow frenzy.

Yes, we know, grandma always makes the best gingerbread houses—but what about gingerbread castles? Gingerbread pirate ships? Or even gingerbread Guggenheims? This holiday, VF.com collected the most outrageous, extravagant, and downright fantastical gingerbread houses across the country. Prepare to be dazzled by—dare we say it—gingerbread art.